The Last Companion: Familiar Faces from Across the Void
by Chakat StarDust
Summary: Seventh in the series, read the rest to understand what's going on! Crossover with Doctor Who, Yugioh and a few others, you have been warned. The folks of Torchwood: Cardiff Alternate run into the Yoh and Hao of their world in some serious trouble. Taking them in will mean some serious confusion and questioning of the Alternate Hao's motives when he meets his doppleganger.
1. Chapter 1

Star: Newest in the series after a long hiatus, sorry about that. So, I own nothing but my wild little OCs, and this strange little plot, so let's get on with the story.

He hadn't expected to be captured. He hadn't expected to be captured by the X-Laws, which was just embarrassing. He hadn't expected them to be able to bind his powers. And he certainly had never expected to be sharing a cell, in Cardiff, with his twin brother, and Lyserg Diethel.

"Well, this is certainly a surprise." He said, grinning nastily at the green-haired British boy. Lyserg turned furious green eyes on him. Hao could feel his rage-filled thoughts pounding at his head, giving him a headache. Oh how he wished he could just burn the boy out of existence and find some peace and quiet within his own mind.

"Shut up, Hao." Lyserg growled.

"Or what?" Hao taunted. "You're in the same boat as us." He indicated the black marks on all their necks which were preventing them from using their shamanic abilities. Lyserg growled at him.

"Can we not, please?" Yoh asked. "We're in enough trouble I don't think we need to be fighting." Hao focused on Yoh's mind. For some reason Yoh had figured out how to block Hao's mind reading abilities. As a result trying to peek into his head only brought silence, blessed silence. "Why are you here, Lyserg?"

"Said they needed to re-train me, remind me that I'm an X-Law." Lyserg mumbled, looking angry. "I should have never joined them in the first place." Yoh reached out and patted Lyserg's shoulder gently.

"We all make mistakes." Yoh said, disgustingly optimistic. "We'll get out of this."

"How?" Lyserg demanded.

"As much as I hate to agree with the ex-X-Law, tell us Yoh, how do we get out of this?" Hao said condescendingly. "Because I highly doubt that your eternal optimism will do much in the face of the X-Laws and you with no power."

"You have no power as well." Yoh reminded him. "And I've been in worse situations and come out okay." Hao knew he was referring to their battle, months ago now. It had surprised him that Yoh had actually managed to stop him. Of course, he hadn't died, but fled, tending to his injuries and then travelling again, knowing they'd be looking for him.

He'd gotten careless though, and hadn't seen the X-Laws tailing him in Cardiff until it was too late. What they were doing in Cardiff he didn't know. He was looking into the interesting fluctuations of energy in the region, but he doubted the X-Laws much cared about that, all they cared about was destroying him.

There was the scrape of a key in the door of the cell that was holding the three of them and the door opened, revealing Marco and the little Iron Maiden. "Well, well, if it isn't my favourite psychos?" Hao sneered.

"Your words mean nothing here Hao, you are caught and you are finally going to see justice." Marco said with a self-satisfied smirk. Hao then had his hand cuffed to Yoh's hand and Yoh's hand was cuffed to Lyserg's hand. Marco grabbed Hao by his poncho and dragged him out of the cell, Yoh and Lyserg having no choice but to follow.

They were led outside to a truck and made to sit in the back of it. The doors were child-locked, which meant that they couldn't just jump out of the vehicle. "We could use one of your stupid miracles right now." Hao sneered at Yoh.

Yoh opened his mouth to reply, but there was a sound like an explosion from outside and the truck skidded and crashed into a nearby building. Hao heard the locks disengage and forced the door open, dragging the other two out behind him and running towards a nearby alley. He heard Marco shout and a gunshot and he let out a harsh bark of surprised pain as a line of fire was carved into his side.

He ignored that in favour of getting as far away from Marco as humanly possible. He was so concerned with getting away that he didn't watch where he was going and ran into something, or rather someone, he realized as he fell in a tangle of limbs.

"Oof, hello." The person he'd fallen on said in a tenor English accent. "D'you mind?" Hao got up, tugging at the chain around his wrist. The man he'd run into bounced to his feet, brushing off his pants. He was a scruffy-looking thing, wildly teased brown hair and lively brown eyes in a freckly face that topped a body that was slim and a little leggy. The man looked at him and blinked rapidly a couple times.

Hao was having trouble discerning individual thoughts in the maelstrom of human thoughts that was the city. He wanted to burn it all clean, no more thoughts, no more pain inside his head. "Looks like you lot are in a spot of trouble, some things don't change I suppose." Hao had no idea what that meant. "You running from something?"

"X-Laws." Yoh gasped out, trying to catch his breath.

"Of course, couldn't be anything else could it?" The man sighed. "Looks like you got yourself injured too." He commented, looking at Hao. Hao looked down and saw a spreading stain of blood on his poncho.

"Wonderful." He groused.

"I can get you somewhere safe." The man offered.

"Why should I trust you?" Hao demanded.

"Do you have any other choice?" The man asked. Hao opened and then shut his mouth. The man was right, he realized with disgust. The X-Laws would surely catch them if they stayed out here. Hao eyed the man critically; he could definitely overwhelm him if it came to a fight.

"Fine." He ground out. The man smiled and tapped the earpiece he wore.

"Hello, it's Don. Hello love, I've got a few civilians I'm escorting back to the Hub… of, course, you be careful now, love you." The man, Don, then took something out of his pocket and grabbed Hao's arm. "This is going to feel a little odd." He pressed the button on the object and there was a sensation like the world being turned inside out, and colours swirled before Hao's eyes and then there was a bang and when his head cleared he saw that they were somewhere else.

They were inside a large room that was all metal. In the center of the room was a lower platform in which a large central pole with consoles around jutted up to the high ceiling. The pole was transparent and there looked like there was light inside it. Where they were standing was crammed with desks, computers and all manner of machines that Hao had no names for. There were doors going to different places, an elevator and a few other people doing god knows what on the computer.

"Welcome to Torchwood." Don said dramatically.

"What's Torchwood?" Yoh asked.

"We monitor and take care of any extraterrestrial activity around here." Don explained. Hao scoffed. "Oi, you're a shaman, you deal with magic and ghosts, if you ask me you're the last person to be sceptical about anything."

"How do you know that?" Hao demanded.

"Ooh, that would be telling wouldn't it?" Don replied. "You'll find out soon enough on your own, now, let's get those cuffs off and you looked at. Colin!"

A tall, lanky man with short red hair and bright green eyes wandered over as Don cut the cuff off Hao with a pair of bolt cutters. "Got injured, huh?" He asked Hao in an even tone. "Let me get my med-kit." He wandered off and came back with a large white box. "Let's have a looksee here." He murmured, lifting Hao's poncho. "Hmm, just a graze, you got lucky. Won't need stitches." He dabbed iodine into the wound. Hao glared at him. "Would you rather it get infected?" Hao huffed but allowed Colin to continue.

As Colin was finishing another few people appeared, with four beings not known to this world in tow. They had what looked like quills all over their bodies, tentacle-like appendages and multiple eyes. "Farsians?" Don asked.

"Yeah, juveniles, joyriding." A curvy blonde with brown eyes replied. "I think somebody's going to be a little pissed at these four." The four aliens shuffled, looking contrite. "Suki, Meaghan, can you put them in lock-up? Be gentle."

"Right, Rose." A petite Asian woman with glasses and electric blue streaked black hair and a tall, generously curvy, curly-haired brunette led the four aliens away. Rose skipped up to Don and kissed him and then turned to Hao and the others.

"Getting into trouble?" She commented. There was surprise along with amusement in her thoughts.

"Er, hi, I'm Yoh." Yoh introduced, bowing his head.

"Yes, you are, and that's Hao and Lyserg." Rose said. Hao stared at her.

"How do you know my name?" He demanded.

"You'll find out soon enough." She said, smiling mischievously. "What's those marks on your necks for?" She asked.

"They're binding our powers." Yoh explained.

"Ooh, magic, not really our specialty, unfortunately, that's aliens." Don said. "Although, I wonder if Atem might be able to help, I mean he had that Shadow-whatsit before."

"I don't know if he's still got that, I've never seen him use it." Rose said with a shrug. "It's worth a shot, and then there's always him."

"Right, right, of course." Don picked up the object that had transported them and played with it for a few moments. "We're going to go see someone who might know about how to get those off you, you're going to have to hold onto me and Rose though." Hao reluctantly grabbed onto Don, while Yoh grabbed Rose and Lyserg. Don pressed the button and they were whisked away again.

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Star: Review plz!


	2. Chapter 2

Star: I own nothing!

When Hao's vision cleared they were in a similar looking room, although the pole was on the same level as they were now and the space below was filled with couches and pillows. "No one's around, must be early." Rose whispered.

"Oh well, we are Japan now." Don commented. Hao blinked, Japan? "Although we're not quite synchronised with this universe." Hao blinked rapidly again. What the hell were they talking about? A sudden strangled noise from Yoh made him look around.

He took a step back, feeling the blood drain from his face as he saw who was sitting up sleeping against the far wall. The creature was bad enough; a large thing, about the size of a Great Dane but blockier, greenish-grey hide not unlike an elephant. A huge mouth dominated the thing's head, which was large and square, with wicked sharp teeth poking out of the lips. There were no eyes that he could see, just a pair of slits on the top of the head that could have been nostrils. A pair of appendages like gills fluttered as the thing breathed, making a gurgling sort of vibrating noise.

This creature paled in comparison to who was being held in the grasp of one surprisingly skinny arm like a teddy bear. Hao blinked rapidly, trying to make sense of what he was seeing. It was him, or someone who looked exactly like him, being held by some monstrosity, sleeping on the floor as though it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Oh, that is adorable." Rose whispered. "Isn't that a Sllurxi?"

"Yes, though this one's not anywhere near adulthood, what's ze doing so far from home?" Don wondered aloud.

"Ze?" Yoh asked vaguely.

"Sllurxi only have one gender." Rose explained, looking at Don. Don nodded. "It would be rude to call zer a she or a he, very rude."

"Are we just going to ignore the fact that you seem to have a clone of me here?" Hao demanded irritably. Everything about the doppelganger screamed wrong in his mind. Never mind the fact he was being cuddled by an alien, but he was wearing simple jeans, a t-shirt, a sweater and a pair of black converse shoes.

"He's not a clone." Don sighed. "You lot don't have cloning technology, well, at least not yet, well, at least not in this version of history."

"Then what is he?" Hao growled.

"You're in a parallel universe right now, figure it out, you're clever." Rose said. "Well, if you're anything like he is you are."

Hao was about to make a retort, but something on one of the computers started beeping. The other Hao's eyes snapped open and he lunged forward, crossing the room at a run and practically diving into the chair in front of the computer, all in a matter of seconds. He placed a headset on his head and began to type quickly into the computer.

"Hello, this is Hao Asakura of Torchwood speaking, do you read me?" He listened for a second and then typed something into the computer. "I repeat, this is Hao Asakura of Torchwood speaking, do you read me?" He enunciated each word carefully. The sound of something came through the speakers then. It was a mix of phlegmy sounding growls, clicks and hums. The creature, the Sllurxi, had woken up by now and walked over on four thick legs, hands laced together in what looked like a nervous posture, standing by the other Hao. The other Hao absented patted zer head.

"Yes, this is where the message came from, honourable being." The other Hao said in response to the sounds that were coming from the speakers. "Unfortunately we're only a class five planet and as such we cannot authorize you landing in broad daylight in the city. Yes, honourable being, I know that you wish to see your child, but we have certain protocols we have to follow."

Hao hadn't seen the new man come up, but suddenly there was a bronze-skinned man with spiked black hair tipped with red and streaked with yellow beside the other Hao, squeezing his shoulder. The other Hao looked up and nodded at the man.

"Honourable being, I'm going to transfer you over to my superior, he will be able to help you a little bit better." The other Hao stood up and handed his headset to the other man.

"This is Director Atem of Torchwood, how can I be of assistance, honourable sir?" The man said in an powerful, baritone voice.

"Stay with Atem, I'm sure your parent will want to speak with you." The other Hao told the Sllurxi. The creature said something to him. "I know, but you did leave without permission, your parent is probably more worried than mad."

With that the other Hao walked off, moving to the other side of the room, where there was a coffee machine. Hao couldn't take his eyes off him and the other Hao finally noticed him when he turned around with a full mug of coffee. The other Hao didn't even look surprised, he just raised an eyebrow and sipped his coffee.

"You know, I really wonder sometimes when my life became so weird that this doesn't even faze me." He commented drily, running one hand through his hair, which Hao noticed was shorter.

"I'd say about the time you encountered a little blue box." Rose said. The other Hao smiled, looking down at his coffee.

"Except it was much bigger on the inside." He added fondly. "Yeah, that sounds about right."

"What are you talking about?" Hao demanded.

"It's complicated." Rose, Don and the other Hao answered. The Sllurxi wandered over to the other Hao, head hanging low.

"Everything okay, T'ck?" The other Hao asked. T'ck said something, the gill-like structures vibrating in what looked like nervousness. "Your parent is upset because you scared zer, that means ze loves you very much." T'ck said something else. "Yes, you probably will be in trouble, but that's your own fault so you have to own up to it."

"This is crazy." Lyserg muttered.

"This is Torchwood." Atem stood up, amusement on his face. "We do not use the words crazy or impossible here because it seems everything and anything can happen and the universe does seem to have a sense of humour." He looked at them all, ruby red eyes appraising. "I am Director Atem of the Torchwood Domino City Division, universe Prime. You are currently in a parallel universe to our own, which means that yes, there are other versions of yourself running around, as you have already seen, Hao."

"What?" The other Hao asked. "Oh, talking to him, sorry boss."

"You wanted me, Don?" Atem asked.

"Ah yes, well you see they've got these marks on their necks that are blocking their shaman powers and you having had magic, we thought you might be able to help." Don explained, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"I'd tell him to stop drinking coffee, but he doesn't touch the stuff." Rose commented to no one in particular.

"Unfortunately my powers were not revived along with me." Atem explained. Hao had no idea what he was talking about and could only pick up bits and pieces of thoughts from his mind. Come to think of it, he could only pick up bits and pieces from everyone's mind around him. "I can have a look, see if I recognise the make of them."

Yoh, of course, willingly moved forward and exposed his neck with the black symbol on it. Atem inspected it briefly and then shook his head. "It's nothing that I recognise, but…" he turned his head. "Hao." The other Hao didn't look up. "Hao!"

"Oh, you are talking about me, coming." The other Hao put down his coffee and tied back his hair, which was only came down to between his shoulder blades now. He walked over to them, moving with the easy confidence that Hao knew in himself. It shouldn't have made him feel better to see, but it did. "Yes, Atem?"

"Can you have a look at these, they're blocking their abilities." Atem informed him. The other Hao reached out towards Yoh.

"If I may?" He asked, his voice kind. Yoh stared at him for a moment and then nodded his head. The other Hao traced the lines of the marking and then shook his head. "I don't recognise the spell, and it's too powerful for me to break, probably even if I did have the counterspell."

"Too powerful?" Hao demanded. "Are you not Hao Asakura?"

"I am, but these days my furyiochu level is about 10,000." The other Hao said mildly. "It's a bit of a long story." He added with an unconcerned shrug and a jaw-cracking yawn.

"You should go home, get some rest." Atem said sternly.

"I'm fine, I've dealt with worse." The other Hao protested. "T'ck's most comfortable around me, I don't feel good leaving zer behind."

"Alright, but if I think that you need to go home I'll have Anna come and drag you back." Atem threatened. The other Hao gave him a crooked smile and a salute in reply. He wandered down to the couch-filled lower level and sat down with a sigh, T'ck settling beside him. Hao shook his head, trying to make sense of what this day was becoming.

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Star: Review plz!


	3. Chapter 3

Star: I own nothing!

Yoh watched the other Hao while the Torchwood people discussed what could be done about them. He was talking to T'ck, but Yoh didn't understand how the other Hao could actually understand zer. He snuck a glance at the others, but they weren't paying attention to him, so he slipped under the guard rail and walked over to the other Hao.

"…Well no, there's nothing truly better about either gender, it's just people want to think that way." The other Hao was explaining. T'ck said something. "It's mostly because they don't want the other gender to hold as much power." T'ck replied. "I agree, it's very silly, oh, hello Yoh."

"Hi, Hao." Yoh said nervously. This Hao looked at him with eyes that were kind with a tint of sorrow in their depths. "Sorry, but how can you understand… it's zer, right?"

"Yes, zer." The other Hao agreed. He tapped his ear, which had an earpiece attached to it. "Translator, ze's wearing one too." Yoh saw now that T'ck had a small device strapped around zer neck.

"Oh, that makes sense, stupid question, huh?" Yoh said, scratching at the back of his head.

"No, I think it was a perfectly valid question." The other Hao answered gently. "Didn't used to have to use one of these though."

"How come?"

"It's a long story." The other Hao chuckled. "I wouldn't even know where to begin." There was a bang of displaced air and the other Hao looked up and smiled. "Good morning otouto." Yoh looked up and saw a copy of himself looking down at them from the second level.

"Good morning aniki." The other Yoh replied. "You know, I'm not sure what it says about me that this kind of thing doesn't even seem odd." He commented, walking down with a small Tupperware container in his hands. "I blame you."

"You blame me for everything." The other Hao retorted with a laugh.

"It's usually your fault." The other Yoh replied. "Brought you breakfast."

"You are incredible, otouto, how did I get along without you?" The other Hao sighed, grabbing the container from his Yoh.

"Yoh?" A new voice intruded. Both of them turned. "This universe's Yoh, sorry." The man who had spoken looked a lot like Atem, except his skin was paler, he didn't have as much blonde in his hair and his eyes were a soft violet. "You're looking after the kids today, right?"

"That's me." The other Yoh said cheerfully. "What's on today's itinerary, Yugi?"

"Well, they have swimming lessons at ten, which lasts for half an hour." Yugi replied. "Try to keep them occupied but not too active before then. You have your ID?" The other Yoh nodded. "It shouldn't be a problem, but they have my number if they need to confirm you're on our list of acceptable people." Yugi explained. "Adjo's been fussy about breakfast lately so you'll have to coax him along. You can take them out for lunch, but not too late, they need their naps."

"Right, got it." The other Yoh nodded and then looked at Yoh. "Do we know if our doppelgangers will be staying long?"

"Not sure yet, you'd have to take that up with Atem." Yugi answered.

"It's just going to be a bit confusing with two of the same people around, you know?" The other Yoh said. Yoh nodded in agreement. Yugi smiled and patted his shoulder.

"Trust me, we've been there. At least you don't have to worry about paradoxes." Yugi walked away, joining Atem and the others in their conversation.

"I'd better get the kids up, huh?" The other Yoh said to his Hao.

"Good luck." The other Hao said cheekily. The other Yoh flicked him in the forehead and walked off, opening one of the doors that led off the central room.

"RAAAAA!" A pair of tiny missiles launched themselves at the other Yoh, latching onto him. The other Yoh laughed and grabbed one of the children, hoisting her into his arms. The other ran away giggling, but stopped when he spotted that there were two Yohs and two Haos. He had hair like Atem's, but eyes like Yugi's, and his sister was the opposite.

The tiny girl in the other Yoh's arms sighed. "Pawawwel universes." She said in a world-weary tone, spreading her arms in a 'what are you going to do' gesture. The other Hao choked on the food he was eating and started laughing his head off.

"What so funny?" The little girl asked.

"Oh nothing Aiko, Hao's being silly." The other Yoh said.

"Hao very silly." The little boy said.

"That he is, Adjo, that he is." The other Yoh agreed. "Come on, breakfast time, then we can watch the Magic School Bus."

"Yay, Magic Skoo bus!" Aiko cheered as the three of them disappeared back into the room they'd come from. Yoh's stomach growled loudly then and he found the other Hao's Tupperware container under his nose.

"You want some?" The other Hao asked.

"Don't take it Yoh, it's probably poisoned." Yoh turned at the sound of Lyserg's voice. Lyserg was staring down at the other Hao with undisguised hatred on his face.

"Lyserg, he's been eating it." Yoh reminded him. "I doubt he'd poison himself."

"Not unless I'd developed an immunity to iocaine powder." The other Hao quipped. Yoh looked at him oddly for a second. "I travelled with a pair that loved their movies, I can quote the Lord of the Rings for hours."

Yoh took the container from the other Hao. He felt the dirty look from Lyserg. "Come on Lyserg, it's not the same Hao."

"He's always the same." Lyserg growled.

"On the contrary the very reason that parallel universes exist is because of choices. Whenever an event can go one way or another the universe splits into two more, one where one choice was made, and another where another choice was made." The other Hao explained.

"Did you kill this universe's parents?" Lyserg demanded. The other Hao closed his eyes tightly for a moment and then opened them again.

"Yes." He finally replied.

"Then you are the same." Lyserg growled and stalked off. T'ck said something.

"It's fine T'ck, I've just done a lot of things I'm not proud of." The other Hao sighed. T'ck leaned zer head against the other Hao.

"I'm sorry about him." Yoh murmured.

"It doesn't surprise me." The other Hao said, smiling sadly. "Be careful around him, alright?"

"He's my friend." Yoh said, surprised. The other Hao didn't say anything, but looked grim. "This is going to get confusing."

"Isn't it already?" The other Hao asked.

"Well, I'm getting used to the idea of parallel universes, I just feel like I'm going to get who's who mixed up, because I really can only refer to you as the other Hao." Yoh explained. The other Hao nodded his head in understanding.

"I may be able to help with that." He mused. "You can use the name Asaha to refer to me, if you'd like."

"Asaha?" Yoh repeated. "It means something, doesn't it?"

"For me it means old memories, memories that might hurt but that I am glad to have." Asaha replied. "To him…" He nodded his head towards Hao. "I think it's safe to say he hasn't hit the low that I did and hasn't received the help I have."

"Help?" Yoh questioned, just as his name was called. "Sorry, looks like we're going." Asaha nodded his head and accepted his breakfast back. Yoh walked back up to the second level.

"We're taking you to the other Torchwood of this universe to stay for the time being." Atem was saying.

"Why there?" Yoh asked.

"It's in the same place as ours, but you won't run the risk of being detected by the X-Laws." Rose explained. She shared a glance with Don and Atem, which told Yoh that there was more to it.

"You're inflicting Jack on them?" Asaha questioned and then laughed. "Pro-tip, he's harmless but if his flirting gets uncomfortable just threaten to tell Ianto."

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Star: Review plz!


	4. Chapter 4

Star: I own nothing!

Captain Jack Harkness looked up as the bang that meant someone had teleported in rang through the air. He checked his face in the mirror, ruggedly handsome, chiseled face and neat short brown hair, one blue eye winked and then Jack got up, putting on his greatcoat. His grin grew when he saw who was standing there.

"Well, well, here's a surprise." He said to Hao and Yoh, completely ignoring Lyserg for the moment. "Didn't know you were into roleplay," He said, eying the poncho and chaps Hao had on over his jeans. "Can't say I don't like it, although just the chaps would be good, no jeans-"

"Jack," Don interrupted. "He's not our Hao."

"Ah, that would explain why he's glaring death at me as opposed to rolling his eyes and threatening to tell Ianto on me." Jack replied.

"Threatening to tell me what?" Jack's favourite tea boy, and lover, came up, soft baby-face twisted in an expression of utmost patience, tidy and neat all over from the short brown hair on his head to the impeccably clean and colour-coordinated suit.

"Nothing, Ianto my darling." Jack sang out. Ianto looked at him, brown eyes sceptical. "We have guests from our neighbourly alternate universe."

"Can you take them? At least until we figure out how to get the marks off their necks, Atem and Hao will be chasing a few leads." Rose explained.

"All business and no play?" Jack sighed. "Come on Rose my sweet, where's my kiss?"

"Oi, Jack, my husband's here." Rose teased.

"I'll give him a kiss too."

"Stop it." Don said, shaking his head.

"Never." Jack said, blowing a kiss at Don. "So, you want to foist this lot on us do you? Suppose we have the room, just watch out for Myfanwy."

"Myfanwy?" Yoh asked.

"Pterodactyl." Jack clarified. Hao snorted. "Oh, don't believe me? Ianto, we have those biscuits she likes?" A moment later a tin was dropped in his hands and he lifted it over his head and shook it. A screech came from above and he ducked as Myfanwy swooped down and grabbed the tin out of his hands and then flew back up into the ceiling. "See, Myfanwy."

Their three guests were gaping, looking like goldfish. It was highly entertaining and he wondered when he should let them know about his own unique ability. Hao turned to look at him, eying him curiously. Jack remembered that their Hao used to be able to read minds and feeling cheeky immediately started thinking of all the sex he'd had in his long life. Hao began to scowl at him.

"Jack, whatever you're doing, knock it off please." Don sighed.

"Oh, you're no fun, Don." Jack pouted.

"No, he just doesn't put up with your type of fun, Jack." Gwen quipped as she walked in, showing off her adorable gap in her teeth as she smiled. She fluffed her straight black hair and pecked Ianto on the cheek, stealing his tea from him and dancing away with twinkling green eyes.

"What, nothing for me?" Jack called.

"I'll sic my husband on you Jack!" Gwen yelled back.

"Never get any respect around here." Jack bemoaned. Don and Rose just shook their heads at him. Hao had a look on his face like he couldn't believe what was going on, Yoh looked bemused and Lyserg just looked pissed off. Jack made a mental note to make sure any and all weapons were secured around the Hub. They didn't need any incidents happening, seeing as the last was only a month ago.

"We should be getting back, Mum will wonder why we're not at dinner." Rose said. "You'll be alright here." She told their guests. "Treat Jack like a dog, swat him in the nose with a newspaper and he'll back off."

"Oi!" Rose laughed and blew him a kiss and then she and Don disappeared with a bang. "Well, guess we have to set up some guest rooms."

"On it, Jack." Ianto replied, wandering off. Jack took the opportunity to check out his ass. "You see me naked all the time, you don't need to be looking right now." Ianto called.

"Just a warning, everything can be turned into something about sex with Jack." Gwen said in a stage whisper to their guests.

"No respect, none whatsoever." Jack lamented.

"What's Captain Cheesecase going on about this time?" The shaven, dark skinned head of Mickey came into view.

"Mickey Mouse, I thought you had a day off?" Jack questioned.

"Got a call from the Domino division, said something had come up here I should be informed about." Mickey replied.

"Right, team meeting once we have our guests settled." Jack ordered. Thankfully it didn't take long. The guest rooms they'd put in didn't see much use, but Ianto, being the fussy thing that he was, always made sure they were livable.

"So what's this about, Jack?" Martha asked. The petite dark-skinned doctor accepted a mug of coffee from Ianto and sat down. She cocked her head at him, intelligent dark eyes eying him critically.

"It's about our guests." Jack started, keeping his voice low.

"The Parallels." Mickey said. "You think they might be trouble?"

"Well, the parallel Yoh seems about the same, but so does the parallel Lyserg, which could be a problem, but the one I'm really worried about is that Hao." Jack explained. "Looks like he's the way our Hao says he used to be before we met him."

"He makes me nervous." Gwen admitted in a soft voice. "It's weird, because it's Hao, but I look into his eyes and… he's mad."

"He can also read minds." Jack added. "Tested the theory by thinking dirty thoughts at him, boy did he not like that." Mickey snorted in laughter.

"Make him think twice about having a peek, right?" Jack nodded.

"It might be good to test out that psychic damper while he's here then." Ianto suggested primly. "I know we've been meaning to, but our Hao won't lift the barriers around his mind."

"Can hardly blame him." Martha said. "So, be careful, that's the rule right now?"

"Yeah, don't give him, or Lyserg, an excuse. Any and all weapons if they are not on your person get locked up properly, we do not need someone getting their hands on those." Jack ordered. "Keep your computers password locked if you're not on them. If something does happen I'll meet it head on to give you lot time to either get out or get weapons."

"We shouldn't treat them as hostiles though, should we?" Mickey asked.

"No, that would just create more problems." Martha sighed.

"I wonder…" Gwen said softly.

"What is it, Gwen?" Jack asked.

"If that Hao is still so dangerous, should we be giving him his power back?" She replied.

"She's got a point." Ianto admitted. "We've got people we care about there, and even if we didn't…"

"I agree with Gwen, I'd feel safer if he didn't have any power." Mickey said.

"They're not even sure they can get their powers back." Jack reminded them. "I don't know. We'll figure it out when the time comes."

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	5. Chapter 5

Star: I own nothing!

Asaha, as he was choosing to refer to himself to remind himself that others would right now, appeared in the Torchwood: Cardiff Hub with T'ck clutching at his hand. It was very early in Cardiff, and he could hear faint snores that sounded like Yoh. Asaha smiled slightly; of course it was the same as his otouto.

He paused when he heard soft muttering and shuffling footsteps. He shushed T'ck and took a step back when Lyserg shuffled out of his room. It was clear he was sleepwalking though, as his eyes were closed. Asaha knew better than to wake him up.

"**What's he doing?"** T'ck asked in a low voice, Asaha's translator making sense of the odd sounds.

"He's sleepwalking, shush, don't wake him." Asaha answered. He would have just left Lyserg alone too, but he started heading for some stairs and he decided it would be best to keep an eye on the boy. It was a good thing too, because Lyserg started walking towards the stairs. Asaha lunged forward just as Lyserg tripped and was pitching headfirst down the stairs, grabbing a fistful of his shirt and yanking him back.

Lyserg came awake with a yelp, wheeling his arms to get his balance back. He glared at Asaha, who let him go. "You were about to fall down the stairs, I didn't think you'd want a concussion." Asaha explained.

"I'd rather fall than be saved by you!" Lyserg spat.

"That doesn't surprise me in the slightest."Asaha sighed. "You're welcome, anyways."

"I don't need help from the likes of you." Lyserg growled furiously. "Is that a gun?" He demanded. Asaha patted his sidearm.

"Sort of. It's a stunner of sorts, will take down everything from a Weevil to a charging Santoran." Asaha said. "Standard issue. We try not to kill if we don't have to, most of the species we deal with wind up here by mistake and don't want any trouble."

"I can't believe they'd trust you with even that." Lyserg snarled. "What are you planning?"

"I'm not planning anything, other than taking a nap once I've seen T'ck back to zer parent." Asaha answered with a shrug and a yawn. "After that… go to work like I do every other day."

"I don't believe you." Lyserg snapped.

"That doesn't surprise me either." Asaha sighed. "Be careful of where your hate leads you, you could wind up hurting someone you care about." Lyserg stared at him. "I speak from experience."

"You." Lyserg repeated scornfully.

"I am capable of love." Asaha said. It was probably no good to be arguing with Lyserg about this, but he couldn't help but remember what had happened only a month before with their universe's Lyserg, and he wanted to spare some pain. Lyserg made a rude noise and turned away from him. He then turned back, eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"You said your power is diminished, why?" Lyserg asked.

"It's kind of complicated." Asaha said with a faint laugh.

"That's all that anyone says around here." The voice was like his own, and yet not. Asaha looked at Hao, who cocked his head curiously at him, smiling without warmth. "So how did you come to lose your power?"

"Did you attempt to take the Great Spirit by force?" Asaha asked.

"If you did it, why not I?" Hao replied.

"Parallel, not identical universes." Asaha reminded his double. "The events don't always happen the same way, I want to make sure. I am assuming that Yoh beat you." The scowl he received was all the answer he needed. "I was wounded by my otouto's attack, quite severely." He pulled down the collar of his shirt a little so they could see the start of the long scar that ran from his collarbone to his navel. "Th effects were more than physical though, because it was such a powerful attack, it damaged my furyiochu in such a way that only about 10,000 units are usable now. I can go past that, but it starts tapping into my life energy at that point."

"You don't seem too concerned about it." Hao pointed out. Lyserg was watching them both with hatred.

"I'm not. Haven't really used it in… oh, I think the last time was around Christmas." Asaha shrugged, completely unconcerned and checked his watch. They still had a little bit of time before T'ck's parent would arrive.

"Why?" Lyserg asked.

"I don't really need it." Asaha answered.

"Don't need it?" Hao repeated. "Are you insane?"

"No, I'm finally sane again, actually." Asaha said, tapping his temple. He could feel, very faintly just outside the mental barriers he'd constructed to keep other people's thoughts out of his head, a low level buzzing sensation in his mind. Jack was testing the psychic damper, it seemed. Hao's eyes narrowed at him.

"You seem to think you know something I don't." He said.

"Perhaps I do, perhaps I don't, and perhaps we can find out once I've gotten T'ck back to zer parents and gotten a decent sleep."

"I say before." Hao ordered haughtily.

"And I say if you want a semblance of coherency, I will get my nap first." Asaha replied. "I'm running on fumes and expresso at the moment, I'm going to crash hard soon."

"**That sounds painful."** T'ck commented.

"It's just an expression." Asaha told zer, patting zer head. Ze leaned against him, crooning softly.

"**Can't you come with me?" **Ze asked. **"You're much more interesting than anything on my parent's ship."**

"I've done enough travelling the stars for a lifetime." Asaha chuckled. "As sweet as you are, and as interesting as you are, I have a family and friends here who I would miss dearly. I mean, would you want to stay here?"

"**No, I guess not." **T'ck admitted glumly. **"Do you think I might be able to visit?" **

"I'm not sure. Humans get a little weird about aliens still, but we're getting there. If we're careful you might be able to visit, but we don't want panicking happening." Asaha explained.

"Human beings will always hate things they think are different." Hao growled.

"Speaking as someone who works with a lot of humans that deal with aliens on a daily basis, and as someone who's gotten a chance to see what the future looks like, no, they really don't." Asaha replied.

"How can anyone see the future, time travel is impossible." Lyserg hissed.

"No, just very difficult." Asaha replied. "Lupe tried to explain it to me but most of it just went right over my head. You'll meet her and the Doctor soon enough I imagine, they don't stay away more than a few days at a time."

"And they're time travellers?" Hao asked sceptically. Asaha nodded. His watch beeped and he looked down at it.

"Well, looks like it's time." He sighed. "Jack! Get your butt out here!" The aforementioned man loped out of his room, hair mussed and grinning his fool head off.

"Ooh, you know you like my butt." Jack teased.

"Down boy, I know your boyfriend's still in bed, so he can hear you." Asaha playfully admonished. "Cradle robber."

"Hey, if you ever get a girl, guy or whatever you'll be a cradle robber too." Jack protested.

"Not as much as you are." Asaha replied, tapping the coordinates for T'ck's parent's landing site into his teleporter and then teleporting away with Jack, leaving two very confused people behind.

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	6. Chapter 6

Star: I own nothing!

Asaha watched his brother and Ren spar with one another in the backyard. Anna didn't allow them to let up on training, and he had to agree. There were more things out there than just shamans that could hurt them, he'd seen them, and he'd prefer his brother as safe as possible. He supported his head on his fist, thinking of their newest guests at Torchwood, in particular his own doppelganger.

"What's wrong with you?" Asaha looked up and smiled at Anna, who glared down at him.

"Nothing gets past you, does it?" He said, trying to keep his voice light. She just glared at him. "You know of our guests?"

"Of course." Anna sniffed.

"Hao is everything I used to be." Asaha said slowly, rubbing his fingers over bruised knuckles. He'd punched a wall that morning out of frustration.

"I'm not going to have to hide anything flammable from you, am I?" Anna demanded. Asaha shook his head.

"I wouldn't go back to that, I have too many people I care about." He answered. "No, it's more just reminding me of the way I was, bringing up my self-loathing again." He touched his arms, not having to see the marks to know they were there. He'd taken to cutting himself after being rescued by the Doctor, feeling like he needed to be punished for what he'd done.

"Do you hate him?" Anna asked, sitting down next to him.

"I pity him." Asaha replied. "Under all that anger, all that hate, there's fear and pain and all he really wants is to make it stop."

"You want to help him." Anna guessed.

"Yes, the problem is, he hasn't hit rock bottom, like I did, so I don't know if he'll accept help, especially as he sees me as something undesirable." Asaha explained.

"He thinks you're weak, that you've given up on everything you, or he, ever wanted." Anna said.

"But what he's deluded himself into forgetting is that it's not really what he wants, that his reasons are just a cover-up, a justification that he now believes, for what he really wants." Asaha said.

"And that is?" Anna asked.

"To make the pain stop. To no longer hear the thoughts of other people. That was always the reason." Asaha said. "If nothing else, I want to try and prevent him from wreaking more havoc in the other universe." Asaha rubbed at his face. "Their Lyserg also concerns me."

"Ours did almost get our Yoh killed." Anna admitted. "You think this one might go that way?"

"I'm not sure, that's the problem. Ours betrayed otouto because he'd helped me, and I'm certain that Yoh would do the same. Lyserg wouldn't listen to me though."

"So send our Yoh in, let him show Lyserg the wounds he got." Anna said impatiently. "Honestly, you're supposed to be clever."

"I am." Asaha chuckled. "Did you hear what Jack decided to nickname our Yoh to keep the two Yohs straight in his head?"

"Prime, what a stupid nickname." Anna shook her head. "I could slap that man."

"I don't think he'd much care, he deals with the Tylers on a regular basis after all." Asaha pointed out. "It works, and otouto seems to like it, so we seem to be keeping it for the time being."

"Unbelievable." Anna muttered.

"It could have been worse." Asaha pointed out. "At least Prime makes sense, as we refer to this universe as Universe Prime, so our Yoh is Yoh Prime."

"It's still stupid." Anna insisted.

"I won't disagree with you there." Asaha chuckled. He looked at his watch. "Shift's about to start. Can you talk to our Yoh about having a sit down with Lyserg for me?"

"What do I look like, a carrier pigeon?" Anna demanded crossly. "Fine, but you owe me."

"Of course." Asaha said, waving a goodbye to his brother. His brother waved back and Asaha got his personal teleport out and teleported to Torchwood.

%&%&%&%

Yoh Prime, or Prime as everyone seemed to be calling him for the moment, teleported into the Torchwood: Cardiff Hub. His brother had asked him to come, and he'd agreed, though he wasn't sure how much good he could do. Not that he didn't have faith in his own abilities, but this Lyserg had seen him with Asaha, his brother, and that might not be a good thing for him.

"Yoh." Lyserg blinked at him. "Didn't I just… No, you're the other one, Prime."

"That's me." Prime smiled. "Can I speak to you for a moment, alone?"

"Why?" Lyserg demanded.

"I just need to talk to you, it's kind of important." Prime said. "Would you rather be somewhere Hao could hear us?" He asked, knowing it was a bit of a low blow. It seemed to work though, because Lyserg nodded stiffly. Prime took him to Jack's office, which was vacant for the moment.

"What do you want, exactly?" Lyserg asked. He didn't sound exactly hostile, but he didn't sound friendly either. Prime could work with that. Prime was just thinking of how to put it when Lyserg suddenly tilted his head at him, frowning slightly. "You seem wary of me."

"A little bit, yes." Prime admitted.

"Why? Something happened with this world's version of me, didn't it?" Lyserg guessed.

"That is correct." Prime sighed.

"This has to do with whatever you want to talk to me about." Lyserg said bluntly.

"Forgot you're looking to be a detective." Prime mumbled. "I guess the best way to do this…" He unbuttoned his shirt and slid it off his shoulders, revealing the still slightly raw gouge scars that criss-crossed his torso. Lyserg stared at them, looking horrified.

"What happened?" He asked.

"In short, the X-Laws." Prime said. "Though how they managed it, you probably won't like." Lyserg shifted, but said nothing. "I started connecting with Asaha, our Lyserg found out and he wasn't happy with it. Rather than trust me he went straight to the X-Laws, helped them capture me to use at bait for Asaha. In the process Marco carved these into my chest." Prime indicated the scars.

"Bait?" Lyserg repeated. "Why would he-"

"Asaha cares about me. He gave himself up to save me, but Marco would have killed me anyways." Prime explained quickly. "Our Lyserg was a part of that."

"Where is he now? Did you kill him?" Lyserg demanded.

"He's on house arrest, no power, can't go anywhere. None of us wanted their deaths on our conscience, least of all Asaha." Lyserg scoffed. "He knows his soul is burdened with the lives of others. I worry about him, now that he has a reminder of what he once was. He hates himself enough already."

"If you seek to make me feel sorry for Hao-"

"No, that is not my intention." Prime said. "Our Lyserg hurt me, because he allowed his hatred to rule him. How would you feel about yourself if you hurt Yoh?"

"Yoh is my friend." Lyserg said.

"And Lyserg was mine." Yoh answered. "Maybe not the best of friends, but I trusted him, and I thought he trusted me. Hatred doesn't leave room for friendship. Be careful, Lyserg, don't let hatred swamp you."

"How else am I supposed to feel?" Lyserg demanded.

"I don't know, but just remember what I told you. You don't want to lose your friends, do you?"

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	7. Chapter 7

Star: I own nothing!

Asaha teleported into the Cardiff Hub and looked around. Gwen and Mickey were playing a game of 21 with the miniature hoop and basketball they had for when the days were dull. There were some of those, though with a rift in time and space in the area there was almost always something that needed containing, chased down or sent back to where they belonged.

"Come play!" Mickey shouted.

"I've got business to attend to." Asaha replied.

"Aww, come on Asaha." Mickey said teasingly. "You know what they say about all work and no play."

"You're letting them call you that? How dare you?" Hao demanded, leaning on the railing, his fingers tight on it.

"It's my name to give. We needed something to keep the two of us straight in everyone's head and I had an old name I could use, so I did." Asaha shrugged.

"Oh, so it is a real name of yours?" Gwen said with interest.

"My original name." Asaha answered.

"So it's kind of like the Doctor calling himself the Doctor, but it wasn't his name first." Martha guessed, walking in. "Except the universe won't explode if you say your first name."

"Exactly." Asaha said.

"What?" Hao said, sounding confused.

"Long story." Martha, Mickey and Asaha said together.

"Actually, I want to speak with you." Asaha said as Hao turned away. "It's about something that might help you."

"Help? What makes you think I need help?" Hao demanded derisively. Asaha said nothing but tapped his skull. Hao narrowed his eyes, looking warily intrigued. "Fine, make it quick."

Asaha led him a short distance from the others, where he knew they wouldn't be heard. "I don't hear them anymore." He said. Hao looked surprised and then masked it quickly. It took a couple minutes for Hao to reply, Asaha knowing he was warring between pride and desire.

"How?" Hao finally asked.

"It's actually quite simple once you get down to it." Asaha said. "Build a mental wall around your mind, and keep it there, no cracks, no gaps where thoughts can get in. It is harder to maintain than you'd think, but you have time to practice here, without having to actually block thoughts."

"Why are you telling me this?" Hao demanded.

"Because I remember what it's like, and what you go through all the time." Asaha said gently. "I know you want to be free of it."

"I don't need your pity." Hao spat.

"Not pity, it implies that I think your suffering is beneath me, and I don't, because I understand full well what it's like, and what kind of madness it brings." Asaha said. "I've given you the key, it's up to you if you want to try and use it."

Suddenly a bell started ringing over the intercom and Asaha grinned. "Five minute warning, everyone to Domino!" Jack bellowed, jumping down the stairs.

"You're going to want to see this, trust me." Asaha said to Hao as Yoh and Lyserg came out, wondering what the new noise was. "Grab onto me somewhere, we're going to meet the person who inspired Torchwood."

They teleported back to Domino, where a crowd was growing, from Cardiff, Alternate Cardiff and even Sarah Jane and her son Lucas were waiting eagerly for the one man who had directly or indirectly changed their lives. Prime was lounging in Asaha's chair, grinning lazily.

After a moment Asaha heard it, the most incredible sound in the universe, which was merely a sound like a grinding whir. It filled the air, coming from everywhere and nowhere all at once and then a blue box began to materialize, a police box, small to all appearances, but Asaha knew better. The whirring stopped as the TARDIS materialized completely with a faint metallic boom.

"Brace for impact." Jack said cheerily. The TARDIS door opened and a blur ran out and Asaha found himself on the ground, breath knocked out of him and a grinning wolf-girl sitting on top of him.

"Well, hello to you too Lupe." Asaha said, smiling into her blue-gold eyes. She giggled, shaking her soft, short fluffy white hair and making her large white wolf ears flop about. He didn't have to see her tail to know it was wagging a mile a minute. She nipped his nose and took off again, moving from person to person to give them a hug.

"That's Lupe, and she's pretty much always that energetic." Asaha said, standing up and readjusting his clothes. The Doctor walked up to him, wide grin on his face. "Hello, Doctor." He said, accepting the hug from the skinny tall man.

"Oof, have you grown again?" The Doctor asked.

"Is he a twin of Don?" Yoh asked, looking confused.

"Actually, Don is my half human clone." The Doctor replied. "Hello, I'm the Doctor, I'm a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey and I am over nine hundred years old and I have two hearts, how do you do?"

"Two hearts?" Yoh repeated, taking the Doctor's offered hand and shaking it.

"Yes, don't know how you lot get along with one to be honest." The Doctor said. "That's a nasty thing you got on your neck there."

"Can you have a look?" Asaha asked, aware that Lupe was now at his elbow, looking at the marks with interest. "I know magic's not your thing, but I know that some of the ancient cultures worshiped gods that were aliens and it could be some psionic technology."

"True, but no. Ancient human, Mesopotamian, basically it says you can't use your powers, ha ha." The Doctor said. Lupe giggled. "Oh, the ancients had quite the sense of humor. Did you know that Plato used to fake possession in order to chase around girls without being prosecuted for it?"

"You're joking." Hao said with disbelief. The Doctor pointed to the TARDIS.

"That is the TARDIS. That stands for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space. I can go anywhere and any when in the entire universe." The Doctor said. "That doesn't mean I can change things, as I'm sure that's your next question." He said, holding up a finger. "I can change some things, but there are many times, many events, that are fixed in time, they cannot, should not be changed."

"Why not?" Lyserg demanded.

"I could rip the universe apart." The Doctor said. "Time travel is tricky, you have to be careful. I've seen a lot of things I wished I could change, but I couldn't." Asaha saw the weight of the Doctor's years on him then, but it was Lupe who went to the Doctor, hugging him from behind. "Well, we can discuss this later, it's storytime now!" The Doctor declared, pasting a smile on his face.

"Pizza's been ordered, should be here soon!" Joey reported.

"Alright, let's get started." The Doctor said, clapping his hands together and looking eager. Everyone scrambled to find a seat in the couch area or around it. Asaha found himself sandwiched between Prime and Lupe, whose tail was still waving madly.

"Alright, so we were in the Betelguese system, about, what was it Lupe?"

"About 3000 years in the future." Lupe answered promptly.

"Right, and we were feeling rather peckish, so we decided to stop in on the third planet, Hadreas, which is home to the Hadreans, which are rather amorphous blobs, but they make some very good cooks…"

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	8. Chapter 8

Star: I own nothing!

Asaha scratched behind Lupe's ears in exactly the way she liked, earning himself a contented hum of approval as the Doctor finished telling them about how they helped another revolution. "Miss having you in the TARDIS." She said.

"Miss it too." Asaha replied. "But I'm good here."

"You're human, eventually you want to go back to your roots, not like you could have stayed forever." Lupe answered, sounding sleepy.

"You travelled with them?" Yoh asked Asaha curiously.

"I did." Asaha replied. "For nearly a year before we decided it was time to stop, settle down and be with my family." He said, hugging an arm around Prime's shoulders.

"Hmph, family." Hao scoffed.

"It's far better than being alone, at least now that I can't hear anymore." Asaha said.

"How'd it happen?" Yoh asked eagerly. Asaha closed his eyes, wondering how to start. He didn't want to completely offend Hao, that would mean that Hao would not take his advice and he didn't want that.

"I was badly injured after my last fight, and Yoh, my Yoh, found me at death's door, brought me back to try and help me. His family and friends didn't agree with that decision, but fortunately for me the TARDIS appeared in the living room." He started.

"We were trying to get here, but the TARDIS has her own ideas sometimes." Lupe said with a giggle.

"She?" Lyserg repeated.

"The TARDIS is alive, a living spaceship, and she always seems to know exactly where we're needed." The Doctor explained. "So we knew there was a telepath in the room, one with no control and we thought, well that's no good, poor soul can't be having very much fun with that and decided to take him with us."

"I couldn't read them you see, Time Lords are naturally psychic and they have naturally-built in psychic barriers so no one can get into their heads if they don't want them too." Asaha explained. "It was the first time I'd had complete and utter silence in my head in an entire millennium, I can't even explain how much of a relief that was."

"They taught you control?" Yoh guessed.

"No, their ability was natural, so they had no idea how to teach it. They took me to a friend, Deanna Troi, on the starship Enterprise. She's half Betazoid, which are naturally telepathic, and she taught me how to keep control." Asaha explained. "Until I learned that control, I kept myself completely isolated in the TARDIS, afraid to step outside and get bombarded by people's thoughts again. I didn't want to go mad again."

"Again?" Yoh repeated and then appeared to think about that. "Oh." He said softly, casting a furtive glance at Hao. Asaha nodded slowly.

"Once I was confident enough the Doctor and Lupe took me on adventures, showed me the universe." Asaha smiled in remembrance. "There is so much out there that we don't even know about yet, someday we will, someday we'll be out there, but we're just one species in a universe of thousands, many stranger than you can possibly dream of. You realize out there just how big the universe is, and just how tiny you are, and yet that you are also so very important."

"What do you mean?" Yoh asked.

"Everyone has a part to play, and history would be very different if any one of us didn't exist." Rose said. "I was a shop girl until the Doctor found me and took me to the stars, but I helped save the universe, multiple times, saved Queen Victoria, saved a lot of people."

"Shakespeare created his eighteenth sonnet for me, I was his Dark Lady." Martha added. "I was just a med student when the Doctor asked if I wanted to see the universe."

"All of us in some way are here today because of the Doctor, in fact." Jack said. "You take one person out of history you change the way history goes, no matter how unimportant they seem."

"Never in nine hundred years have I ever met someone who isn't important." The Doctor said. "Don't expect I ever will."

"Nine hundred years of human beings and you don't despise them." Hao said with disbelief.

"They're only as bad as every other species in the universe." The Doctor said. "Some are better than others, the Ood, I mean for the most part are very peaceful, but they also carry their brains in their hands so there's that. The point is humans evolve, humans change and eventually, humans get into the universe and realize that they're not the centers of it. I've met many people who were so, so brave, and so, so good and some people who I wish I could erase from the universe, but that's sentience for you."

"I was created in a lab, had all my friends, who could have been called my siblings, killed because we dared to try and make our own lives and I don't hate all humans." Lupe shrugged. "Not everyone's the same, unfortunately the nasty ones make the most noise, so you can start to think all humans are like that."

"Well, I think it's time to be getting our little ones off to bed." Yugi said, holding a yawning Adjo. Everyone took that as their cue to start leaving and the Hub started to empty. Asaha stayed with the Doctor and Lupe in the couch area, waiting until Hao, Yoh and Lyserg were gone.

"How are you?" The Doctor asked, obvious concern in his ancient brown eyes.

"Truthfully I'm not sure." Asaha replied. "I've tried so hard to bury what I did and seeing him here is just bringing them up again."

"I know the feeling." The Doctor sighed. Asaha knew that his own guilt was completely overshadowed by the Doctor's and what he'd done was for good, not for evil. "Have you…?" The Doctor gestured at Asaha's arms. Asaha removed his sweater and turned his arms up, baring the slim silvery scars. The Doctor breathed a sigh of relief when he saw there were no new cuts.

"I don't think I could if I tried." Asaha admitted. "It would hurt my family, hurt my otouto, I couldn't do that to him, and I couldn't do that to you, not again."

"Don't do it for us, do it for you." Lupe said. "You want to help him, don't you? Like we helped, like Deanna helped."

"By the way, Captain Picard says hello." The Doctor said.

"That's kind of him, and yes I do. I want him to see his madness for what it truly is. I just hope it doesn't destroy him in the end. He doesn't have what I did, he doesn't have you, or Torchwood." Asaha said. "Or a family."

"He could have Torchwood, you know how good this lot are at taking in strays." The Doctor said. "I don't know about his family though, Yoh's a forgiving sort no matter what universe I'll bet."

"Seems alright with me, anyways." Asaha said with a smile. "Most of the personality he has now is what he's built up to protect himself from other people, take away what hurts him and hopefully he'll become something like me, not exactly like me, he'll be less inclined to trust than I am, but he'll be sane, and that's the important bit, but he'll also be lost and confused and guilty and scared."

"Just like you were." The Doctor said.

"Exactly, and you know what I did in those days." Asaha sighed. "I'm not even sure I can get through to him yet in any case, but I hope I can."

"You can." Lupe said optimistically. "I bet he's having another look around this place too."

"It helps that they've been using the psychic damper they recovered while he's around." Asaha said. "With any luck the clear head is doing him good. He didn't like me using the name Asaha."

"I imagine not." The Doctor chortled.

"So, how about it, cuddle pile tonight, before we're off again?" Lupe asked, giving him a pout and big pleading puppy eyes.

"Geez, how can I say no to that face?" Asaha sighed dramatically and allowed Lupe to drag him into the TARDIS, his legs getting slapped by her madly wagging tail.

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	9. Chapter 9

Star: I own nothing!

Hao woke up screaming. The nightmare pressed in all around him, still sickeningly clear and he just couldn't stop screaming. He tried to pull free of it, tried to tell himself it wasn't real, but it clung to him, suffocating, drowning him and he was insane, he'd always been insane and oh how had he not realized it?

Someone was shaking him and yelling his name and he latched onto the sound as a lifeline, at least until Yoh's face swam into focus in front of his eyes. He snarled and shoved Yoh away, making him topple off the end of his bed.

"What the hell are you doing?" Hao demanded.

"Considering you were screaming loud enough to wake the entire Hub, probably making sure you weren't dying." Jack commented from the doorway. "Don't think he deserved to be knocked off the bed for that."

"And what do you know?" Hao snarled.

"I'm about a thousand years older than you, pretty damn sure I've got some nasty nightmare material hiding in my memories, it's nicer to have someone around to help shake them off." Jack wandered off and Hao couldn't help but follow after him, because really, what?

"Excuse me, what?" Hao demanded. "Do you even know how old I am?"

"Yeah, Asaha's given us the rundown." Jack replied. "I'll have to start at the beginning, you want cocoa, tea, something? My tea boy's gone home for the night, but I'm not totally inept at making things."

"I'll have cocoa." Yoh volunteered, coming out of Hao's bedroom, rubbing the back of his head. It was annoying how quickly Yoh bounced back from things, and how few grudges he held. What was the boy, a saint?

Jack prepared a cocoa for Yoh and cocoa with some kind of alcohol in it for him. "Now, I need to start at the beginning. I'm from the 51st century, which is where my views on sexuality comes from, which is to say I am attracted to pretty much any species, any gender." Jack explained. "We were very… free in that time period. Anyway, I was something called a Time Agent, except not really, but kind of, I was running something of a scam. The Doctor and Rose found me in London in the middle of the Blitz, and I decided to stick around for a while, not that different from most."

"Do all people in the 51st century live as long as you?" Yoh asked. Hao scoffed.

"Considering the genetic engineering and shit they can do by that point, it's not a stupid question, but no, that's all me." Jack said. "It's sort of hard to explain, but Rose, she got all of time and space in her head at one point, and I was dead, so she decided to give me life again, but she kind of went overboard."

"How do you mean, overboard?" Hao asked. Jack was silent for a long moment.

"I can't die." He said finally. "You can kill me but a few minutes later I'm back on my feet again. I've been shot, drowned, dropped off a building. The reason I've been alive for so long is I got taken back in time and buried alive, for nearly two thousand years."

"Great Spirits, that's horrible." Yoh gasped. Hao had to agree, Jack would die and then a couple minutes later he'd wake up again, only to suffocate all over again, and again and again. "How did you stay sane?"

"Well, I didn't actually know how long I'd been in there, that helped." Jack said. "Other than that, I think it was the knowledge that there were people who loved me, and needed me, that kept me fighting." Hao scoffed. "Hey, you know how they say there's nothing more dangerous than a man with nothing to lose? They're wrong, the most dangerous kind of person is one with everything to lose, because they will do anything to keep those safe."

"People with everything to lose want to be able to see those things again." Hao protested.

"No, people will die for the people they love, they will make a deal with the devil." Yoh said. "I was willing to die for my friends, for my family, I would have done it gladly, if it meant they would live, if it meant that they were safe. I would have been willing to kill, Hao."

Hao stared at Yoh. Of all the things he'd ever thought would come out of his other half's mouth, he'd never expected that. Yoh was practically a pacifist, he hated death, he hated causing pain, and yet he'd just admitted to be willing to end a life. Yoh nodded at the look on his face, looking slightly miserable.

"Exactly." He said softly.

"So why didn't you?" Hao asked, his voice less accusing than he'd meant it to be.

"Because I wanted to give you what no one else had given you, another chance." Yoh answered. "I never wanted to damn you."

"I don't need saving." Hao hissed.

"Are you happy?" Yoh asked, seemingly out of the blue.

"What the hell kind of question is that?" Hao demanded. "Of course I'm not happy, I'm surrounded by stupid humans!" The words had a hollow ring to them though. He wasn't hearing other people's thoughts anymore, he wasn't hurting anymore. The people of Torchwood had been kind to him, probably kinder than he deserved if they knew what he was capable of and what he had done.

"As interesting as this conversation is, I have work in the morning, and as long as something's not attacking the city, which does happen way too often, I'd like to be able to sleep through the night." Jack said, standing up and wandering away.

"I'm going to get some sleep too." Yoh said. "Goodnight Hao." Hao sat on the couch in the Hub and rubbed his face with his hands. For the first time in a long time he had doubts.

%&%&%&%

"What's he doing here?" Asaha asked Seto in a whisper, seeing Hao lounging on one of the couches.

"Don't know, apparently asked Martha to bring him here, promised to behave." Seto said in reply. Asaha nodded. Martha wasn't one to allow something to occur just because someone begged her. She must have really thought it was alright.

"Has he been doing anything?" Asaha asked.

"Just watching us. Seemed very interested in Yugi and the rugrats together." Joey added. Seto leaned across their space and planted a kiss on Joey's neck. Joey jumped and then glared at his lover. Asaha rolled his eyes and wandered off to his own station. A moment later he felt someone crawl into his lap.

"What doing?" Aiko asked, staring at his computer screen.

"I'm working." Asaha answered, seeing Hao hone in on him with the toddler.

"Work on what?" Aiko asked, her solemn red eyes on him.

"I'm monitoring the city, seeing if there's any alien activity." Asaha explained.

"Ayien actibity." Aiko repeated. "And den you go out and bwing dem back."

"That's right." Asaha said.

"I'm gonna be like Daddy an' talk to de ayiens." The three-year old declared. Asaha chuckled and kissed the top of her head.

"I'm sure you will." Hao was openly staring at him, and Asaha didn't think he knew that he had this hungry, wanting look on his face. "Where's your brother?"

"He's helping Papa in the 'firmawy." Aiko explained. "He wants to be a doctah like Papa."

"Not like the Doctor?" Asaha asked.

"Onwy one Doctah." Aiko said.

"I don't think the universe could handle more than one of them." Asaha laughed. Aiko cocked her head at him in the way that meant she almost understood what he was getting at but not quite. "Why don't you go find your brother and I'll put on a movie for you both?" Asaha suggested.

"Okay." Aiko slid off his lap and trotted away. Asaha got up and loped over to the twins' room and put in Beauty and the Beast, knowing they'd eventually hear two little voices doing their best to sing along to Be Our Guest. It always brought smiles to everyone's faces. Once the twins had settled down he made his way over to Hao and sat down beside him. Hao looked like he hadn't gotten much sleep.

"So, you want to talk about it?" He asked.

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Star: Review plz!


	10. Chapter 10

Star: I own nothing!

"I don't know what you're talking about." Hao snarled, looking away from Asaha.

"Bullshit." Asaha said softly. "I remember being like you, you never do anything for no reason."

"And what makes you so sure I want to talk to you?" Hao sneered.

"You've been watching me for quite some time, trying to figure me out, I'll bet." Asaha replied. He was going to have to tread softly here, Hao was having doubts, but he was still stubborn. He hadn't had the jolt that Asaha had gotten, his Yoh's memories, Prime's way of viewing the world.

"You're happy." Hao said.

"Yes." Asaha replied.

"Why?" Hao demanded.

"I don't hear things anymore, I'm not in pain." Asaha answered. "But that's just the start. I've got people here who genuinely care about me, and a family who loves me that I go back home to every night. I have a job that helps other people and that I love, and I know that the universe is even more wonderful than I could have ever dreamed and that keeps me humble."

"How does that make you happy?" Hao asked.

"I'm not running around making plans, believing that there's only one way for me to know peace, pushing people away because the thoughts that bombard me hurt so much, I've stopped, I'm no longer trying so hard, and when you stop trying, things tend to fall into place." Asaha answered. "I'm sorry if I can't explain better than that, but it's really hard to put the feeling of having come home into words."

"It's foolish." Hao muttered.

"Then why were you watching me with Aiko with such longing?" Asaha inquired calmly. Hao's face contorted in rage. "You sat where all could see you, if you want your pain to be private, express it in private." Asaha said harshly. "You want someone to notice you, because you have no idea what you're doing anymore, and you're too proud to cry out for help."

"You dare-"

"Yeah, I do." Asaha said. No more Mr. Nice-Guy now. He had to get this into Hao's head, had to make him understand. "I'm the only one with the guts to tell you like it is, and the only one who understands what you are going through right now."

"You do not." Hao snarled.

"I know exactly how to think like you do, I remember what that's like, and I know that you will hold onto what you believe are your values until it becomes the death of you." Asaha said.

"What I believe my values are?" Hao repeated.

"How do you feel about the people you are currently living around now that you don't have to hear their thoughts?" Asaha asked. "What do you think about Jack? I'll bet you've been watching him, and don't lie to me, because I'll know. I don't think you want to lie to me either, do you?"

He watched Hao war with the two sides of himself, the side that was completely suspicious of everyone and wanted to pull away completely, and the side that was starting to re-emerge, the unsure side. At this point Asaha didn't know which side would win, but he could hope.

"Jack flirts a lot, with everyone." Hao finally said. "But when he looks at Ianto, you know that Ianto's the only one he's really looking at." He said. "And when he does flirt with people, it's because he genuinely finds them attractive, every time, he doesn't seem to discriminate."

"Would you have noticed that before?" Asaha asked, gentler again. Hao's lips thinned and he refused to answer. "You would have just seen the flirting, wouldn't you, because you were trying so hard to get away from the thoughts that you'd just write him off as another sex-crazed player, wouldn't you? That's what you thought when you first met him."

"How do you know?"

"Because that's what I would have thought." Asaha replied honestly. "It doesn't seem so simple now, without the fear and pain driving you, backing you into a corner like an injured animal."

"I am not controlled by fear." Hao snarled.

"Then why do you try so hard to push people away, why do you surround yourself with followers and yet stand apart. I know you Hao, because I was you." Asaha said. "And this is the first time in a long time that you've been able to think straight." Hao swallowed visibly. "The thought of going back out there after this silence, having to deal with the pain again, scares you, doesn't it?"

"Did it scare you?" Hao demanded.

"Scared the hell out of me, took the Doctor and Lupe practically pushing me out of the TARDIS to rejoin the world." Asaha answered. "haven't let the barriers down since."

"It's as easy as forming a mental barrier around my mind?" Hao asked.

"Sounds easy, but it can be a chore keeping it up, especially when you get to be around other people." Asaha answered. "I'm at the point where I don't even have to consciously think about it, but it took me a while to get there."

"You have a lot of things I don't." Hao said bitterly. "People to help you."

"I want to help you." Asaha said.

"Why?" Hao said suspiciously.

"Because you are everything I used to be, and I can't stand to see someone else going through the same pain I have gone through." Asaha said. "Because I know that we are good men, even though sometimes it's hard to convince myself of that."

"What do you mean?"

"The nightmare you woke up from, I think I know the one. It starts off when you were small, and the house is burning down and there are men standing over you and your mother, she's already dead, but then it changes and you're the one looking down on a little boy and his dead parents." Asaha guessed. Hao flinched, barely. "It was Lyserg."

"I don't have to listen to this." Hao said.

"No, you don't. So, why are you still?" Asaha asked. Hao opened and then closed his mouth. "Torchwood is a good place, there's quite a few people who have some bad pasts that we employ."

"What are you suggesting?" Hao asked.

"I'm suggesting that if you're looking for some place to try and fit in, this might be a good fit. No one's going to bat an eye at having another 1000 year old shaman running around, not with the immortal Jack and Atem, who used to be a pharaoh about 3000 years ago, and that's not even getting into the Doctor, who's an alien, and Lupe, who's a wolf-human-alien hybrid."

"You think I should stay here?"

"I think you don't have a lot of options if you're going the way I've already gone." Asaha said seriously. "Do you really want to keep going the way you were? Lonely and filled with hate? Aren't you tired?" Abruptly Asaha saw all the fight go out of Hao, as though for a thousand years, all he needed to hear was that question.

"I forgot what it was like to live without pain, without feeling like I was being pressed in from all sides. I didn't have time to be tired." Asaha was a bit startled by Hao's honesty, but Hao was essentially talking to himself, he supposed that brought a lot of Hao's walls down. "Now that I'm not spending every moment of my waking life trying to find ways to stop the pain, I do feel tired."

"It gets better, with help." Asaha said. "But if you do go this way, it's not going to be easy on you."

"What do you mean?" Hao asked, suspicious once again.

"Do you know why your nightmare scared you so much?" Hao didn't say anything. "It showed you that you'd become the monster that you had always feared and hated, that you had done exactly what had been done to you." Hao snorted and looked away, but Asaha thought he saw the doubt in his eyes. "You're relearning guilt, and there's a lot for you to be guilty about and you know it."

"You seem to be doing alright." Hao pointed out. Asaha sighed and rolled up the sleeves of his sweater, revealing the silvery scars on his arms.

"I wasn't for the first little while." He said. "Pain of the mind, pain of the soul, is the hardest to bear and I have a lot to bear. The guilt ate at me and the Doctor and Lupe were so kind, but I wanted to be punished, I wanted something that made me feel like less of a bad person, so I began to cut, because the pain of that was easier to deal with, because it felt like I was doing something to make up for all that I'd done. It wasn't logical, but it made it hurt less for a while." He pulled his sleeves down again. "I stopped, but it doesn't mean that it doesn't hurt anymore. I've got a great life, but I still feel like trash sometimes."

"You think I will too?" Hao demanded.

"If you get like me, I almost guarantee it." Asaha said. "That's why I'm thinking about you staying with Torchwood, then you have people to help you, and don't even think about saying you don't need people, because you will need them." The alarm went off and he got up. "I'm on, gotta go." He headed to his station and when he next looked up, Hao was gone.

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Star: Review plz!


	11. Chapter 11

Star: I own nothing!

Yoh watched Hao, feeling a little worried. Hao hadn't been himself for a couple days. He'd been withdrawn, quiet and merely watchful without his usual condescending smirk. Lyserg didn't seem to notice the changes, but then again Lyserg was prejudiced against Hao, happy only to see the monster and not the man.

He looked up at a teleport coming in and saw Jackie, who was Rose's mum, wander through with a large tin. "Jackie, beautiful, sweet Jackie, to what do we owe the pleasure?" Jack asked, grinning widely.

"Watch it boy, or I won't give you these cookies I made." Jackie said, one hand on her hip. She reminded Yoh a little bit of Anna, and he felt a pang of loneliness for his friends and family. Jackie noticed Hao sitting by himself on the couch and went over to him. "Would you like a cookie, luv?"

"I'm not your Asaha." Hao said, though his words lacked any bite. He sounded almost weary to Yoh's ears.

"I know that." Jackie said impatiently. "I can tell the difference, you know, I just wanted to know if you wanted a cookie." Hao gave her an odd look but took a sugar cookie from the tin. "How about you, sweetheart?" Jackie asked Yoh. Yoh gratefully accepted a cookie from Jackie and watched as she went around to everyone else, giving them a cookie. Jack attempted to kiss her but she fended him off with a slap. Yoh smiled and then looked at Hao again, who was nibbling at his cookie delicately.

Yoh walked over and sat down next to him. Hao looked at him, but said nothing, which worried Yoh more, because normally Hao would tell him to leave or make some other patronizing remark. "Are you okay?" Yoh asked, taking a shot in the dark.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Hao demanded, sounding tired.

"You just… you don't look like you've been sleeping and you're acting… off." Yoh explained.

"And why do you care?" Hao sounded actually curious about this.

"I just… do. I don't like seeing people hurt, no matter who they are." Hao made a scoffing noise. "I've always made the effort to help people, no matter what, surely you remember how Ren was at first towards me?"

"I suppose." Hao said noncommittally. "It's a bit different with me, or have you forgotten what I've done to you and your friends, in particular the X-Law reject."

"Have you forgotten what Faust did to Manta?" Yoh queried in return. Hao looked at him, dark eyes unreadable. "You've done bad things, that doesn't make you a bad person."

"That doesn't seem to be the majority opinion." Hao pointed out.

"I don't care about the majority opinion, I never have. Why do you think the X-Laws still consider me to be a threat?" Yoh pointed out. "Must be nice not to have everyone's thoughts in your head now." Hao looked at him oddly. "I know about it, why do you think I know how to block you?" Yoh said with a shrug.

"I still don't know why you would want anything to do with me." Hao said.

"I remember the first time I saw you, standing with all your followers, surrounded by people, and yet somehow I knew that you were all alone in the world." Yoh said. "I know how that feels." Hao looked at him again, quizzically. "I didn't really have friends when I was younger, and I didn't always feel like I fit in my family, like they expected things I couldn't give. I know it doesn't compare to what you've gone through, but I do understand."

Hao tilted his head at Yoh, considering him carefully. "Where did you learn to be the way you are?"

"The loneliest people can be the kindest. The saddest people sometimes smile the brightest. The most damaged people are filled with wisdom. All because they do not wish the pain they've endured on another soul." Yoh quoted. "That's from Timothy Delvecc. I've always found it something of an inspiration."

"You're kind because you can't stand people hurting, and you think I'm hurting." Hao said. His expression was blank and his tone was empty.

"I think you hurt a lot more than a lot." Yoh said carefully, aware that he was cruising through uncharted territory with Hao. They'd never had a conversation like this before, Hao always wound up shoving him away if he tried to get too chatty. "I think you're hurting even more, because you've seen something that you don't think you can have anymore."

"And what is that?" Yoh hesitated, wondering if Hao was just baiting him, waiting to taunt him again, but decided to forge on.

"Love, family." Yoh said. "People you could trust, people it didn't hurt to be around." Hao stared at him for a long, uncomfortable moment. "It hurts because you want it so much, doesn't it?"

"Tell me, when did I become so transparent?" Hao finally asked, without looking away from Yoh.

"It's all there, you just have to be looking for it. Most people don't, unfortunately." Yoh said. "I do."

"Why?"

"Because I believe that most people are inherently good, and that if they're doing things that could be considered bad, they have a reason for it, so I try to find that reason." Yoh said. "I don't like hate, I don't want to feel hate, and understanding why helps me keep seeing people as people and not as monsters. It's harder to hate a person, you see."

"It is." Hao agreed. Yoh figured he was thinking of the people here, the people that didn't seem to care about the blood on his hands, of Jackie, who gave him a cookie just like she had the rest, just because she could, probably thinking of the two little children in Domino city, with their two daddies who would do anything for them. Maybe he was thinking of Jack, who didn't see gender or species as a problem when it came to attraction and whom Ianto loved for all his flaws.

"I don't know if I can give you a home like Prime has done for Asaha." Yoh said. "But I have always wanted to have a brother."

"You'd want me?" Hao said, voice heavy with disbelief.

"I'd want you." Yoh confirmed. The corner of Hao's mouth quirked up briefly. "What's that for?" Yoh asked.

"You, I've never been able to get you, never been able to figure you out completely." Hao said. "You never did what I expected you to. I'd send people after you and you'd try to talk them out of it, and even still talk friendly to them after they'd tried to kill you or your friends."

"Hatred is a vicious cycle." Yoh said. "I didn't want to be a part of it, because it just never ends. An eye for an eye makes us all blind."

"Will you alienate yourself from those that care about you for me?" Hao queried, tilted his head curiously at Yoh.

"It worked out for Prime in the end." Yoh replied.

"Yes, Asaha almost died though, I'd prefer not to have to do so." Hao said.

"Considering Prime almost died too, I'd like to skip that part as well." Yoh said, running a hand through his hair. "I'm not saying this is going to be easy…"

"Funny, that's what Asaha said." Hao muttered. "I'm starting to get what he means."

"What do you mean?" Yoh thought for a second. "You're still having nightmares, aren't you?"

"Only when I sleep." Hao said. Yoh understood why he looked so tired then; he hadn't actually been sleeping.

"Did Asaha ever tell you how he coped with nightmares?" Yoh asked.

"He didn't."

"You should ask him." Yoh said. Hao sighed, closing his eyes and then nodded his head. He stood up and went over to Martha, who teleported away with him. Lyserg came and sat down next to Yoh a couple minutes later.

"I don't like it when you talk to him." He said.

"Did you hear what we were talking about?" Yoh asked. Lyserg shook his head. "He's changing, becoming sane again. I want to help him."

"He's a murderer, a monster, Yoh. You shouldn't want to have anything to do with him." Lyserg protested.

"The X-Laws were just as bad and you didn't have a problem with them." Yoh pointed out.

"And I wised up." Lyserg said stiffly.

"What if we could stop this, forever?" Yoh asked. "Killing him only ensures he comes back stronger than before. Why not help him find peace so that he doesn't do anything more?"

"I don't believe he can be saved." Lyserg growled.

"Anyone can be saved."

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Star: Review plz!


	12. Chapter 12

Star: I own nothing!

"Cuddling?" Hao repeated, sounding confused. "That's how you deal with nightmares?"

"It works." Asaha replied. "I think any form of human contact will do, talking, a hug. I know that you're probably not real thrilled about the idea of any kind of affectionate contact right now."

"How did you do it?" Hao asked.

"I lived with a very tactile wolf-girl, you learn to adapt to the cuddle-pile. After a while it just became normal when I had a nightmare to seek out comfort in other people." Asaha shrugged. "We're a bit of a touchey-feeley group, so if you stick around you will have to learn to deal with that."

"If I stick around." Hao repeated. "It's starting to turn into actually sticking around, in my head, at least."

"Oh?" Asaha asked, raising an eyebrow.

"How can I go back outside? Go back to the pain?" Hao said. "I've been practicing what you've told me, but it is hard and I don't trust my own abilities right now."

"It's impressive that you're willing to admit that to me." Asaha said. Hao scowled at him. "All I'm saying is that you're not one to admit weakness."

"I hate that you understand me so much." Hao muttered. Asaha gave him a sad smile. "Everything feels so different now. I actually laughed at Jack's antics with Mickey yesterday."

"Yeah, Jack likes teasing him." Asaha said.

"You know it makes me nervous that we haven't heard anything from the X-Laws." Ianto commented, walking through with cups of tea. "They didn't waste time the last time we saw them."

"They're probably still trying to find Torchwood, it wasn't as though Don left a trail for them to follow." Gwen said.

"Still, they're not the type to give up." Ianto replied, handing Asaha a cup. "Sorry, I wasn't sure if you wanted any." He said to Hao, who waved him off. "The team in Alternate Cardiff haven't even detected a peep from them."

"That is worrying." Hao said. "They're hell-bent on destroying me, they should have torn apart the city to find me."

"You're the one who knows their tactics, can you think of anything they might be up to?" Jack asked, coming out of his office.

"No, I never much paid attention to them, if you want answers, the best person to talk to might be Lyserg." Hao answered. Asaha was the only one who heard the tremor in his voice on the word Lyserg. "Doubt he'll want to talk though." Jack nodded and wandered away, talking to Ianto. "How do you stand it?" Asaha didn't have to ask what he meant.

"I am surrounded by people who every day remind me that I'm a good person." He answered. "I work with an organization that works to keep our world safe and I consider it repayment for my crimes. It's not easy though, it's never easy and sometimes I just feel like I'm running one step ahead of my demons and I don't dare stop. That's why I work so much, so that I don't have the time to stop and let the demons overwhelm me. The Doctor is the same way."

"Why?"

"He's the reason he's the last of his kind." Asaha said. "There was a war, called the Time War. Time Lords against creatures called the Daleks. If any species could be called monsters, these were them. Daleks believed all other life in the universe was inferior and sought to destroy them all."

"They sound horrifying." Hao commented.

"The Time Lords fought them, but the war went on and on, and then the Doctor did what saved the entire universe. He locked both the Daleks' home world, and Gallifrey, in time, basically removing them from the universe, essentially destroying them." Asaha explained. "he destroyed his entire species. He did it to save the entire universe, but the weight of those souls, and so many more, is on his hearts, and he gallivants across the universe, running from his demons."

"I would never have guessed." Hao murmured. "He seemed so happy when he was around."

"He hides it well, and he is a happy man." Asaha said. "Happier now that he's got Lupe, someone who will live as long as he does." Hao stared at him. "Time Lords live for a long time. The Doctor is over nine hundred years old."

"Seriously?" Hao said, eyes narrowing. "You're not making fun of me?"

"No." Asaha chuckled. "He really is. Lupe will live as long as him, but she's only twenty right now." Asaha didn't want to get into the whole regeneration thing, it was just confusing.

"And she's part wolf." Hao said.

"Yup. Created by humans." Asaha said. "She's a real funny thing, very cuddly."

"So I noticed." Hao said. "And you travelled with them?" Asaha nodded. "And here I had always thought I was the most interesting thing in the world."

"Not by a long shot." Asaha chuckled. "Even on Earth you're outclassed by the Pharaoh who used to be master of the shadows, and by the man from the future who can't die."

"Torchwood attracts the oddities, obviously."

"Torchwood is all about oddities." Asaha replied.

"Do you ever get angry at the world still?" Hao asked.

"Of course. There was some truth to my reasons for disliking humanity, but I know that they can change now." Hao said. "Doesn't mean that it doesn't make me angry when I see that another child's been killed, or another war's broken out. But we're still growing, and we're no worse than other species out in the universe, and there's worse, that gives me hope."

"Hm, I suppose it would." Hao said. "You really want me hanging around? Another version of yourself?"

"Wouldn't be the weirdest thing that happened around here." Asaha said with a shrug. "I could be Asaha indefinitely, it's not a bad name to go back to. Not sure your Yoh will want to stick around, mine mostly just looks after the kids, he's going to be a good father someday."

"Those two, how did they…?" Hao said. "They look like a mix of Yami and Yugi, but that's not possible, is it?"

"Yugi got pregnant." Asaha said. "We still don't know how, some of us figure it was the Rift, some thought it had to do with the TARDIS, the Doctor says he had nothing to do with it, but we're not sure we believe him."

"I give up on trying to understand this place." Hao said, a chuckle working its way up his throat. He stopped, an odd look coming over his face.

"What's the matter?" Asaha asked.

"I think that's the first time I've laughed genuinely since my first life." Hao answered. He huffed out an incredulous laugh. "Unbelievable, I'm actually happy."

"It's a strange feeling, isn't it?" Asaha said. "Some part of you thought that you might never be able to feel happy again."

"I've been trying to figure out who you remind me of, because oddly you didn't remind me of me." Hao commented. "I realized that you do remind me of me, just the version of myself that I was before I went mad."

"That was probably the single most confusing sentence I've ever heard, and I've travelled with the Doctor." Martha commented, sitting down. "You, shirt off, I want to see how that wound of yours is healing." Asaha groaned, but complied, pulling his shirt off. He could feel Hao's eyes on him, inspecting the wounds. The older one ran from his collarbone to his navel, while the newer, still healing, cut through his shoulder and across his collarbone.

"You didn't even try to fix it?" Hao asked.

"Don't have the power to, would have drained me and the one time that I'd tried something like that Lupe nearly had a heart attack, which for her, since she's got two, isn't so bad, but a pissed off wolf isn't exactly something I want after me." Asaha explained.

"What did you do?"

"Brought Matamune back, as a gift to my otouto." Asaha replied. "Took quite a bit out of me, I was bedridden for about a day." Asaha's comm beeped.

"**We need you back at headquarters." **Atem said through the comm.

"Okay, boss." Asaha said. "Sorry, we'll have to continue later."

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Star: Review plz!


	13. Chapter 13

Star: I own nothing!

The Doctor and Lupe were back, this time from a relatively uneventful, except for the stampede of living trees, trip to the Dega system, which apparently had some of the best soup in the universe. Lupe then demonstrated her newly perfected ability to change into a wolf without ripping her clothing apart and was happily bouncing around the Hub, chasing Aiko and Adjo.

"So you haven't figured out the key to getting back your powers yet?" The Doctor asked Hao. Hao shook his head.

"The problem seems less pressing now." Hao said. "Asaha's been quite the help to me."

"I can tell." The Doctor said. "That block of yours is coming along nicely, wouldn't do much against my mind, but then again I'm a Time Lord, nothing much can stand up to that."

"If you're so clever, why can't you think of a way to get our powers back?" Hao asked, though Asaha could hear a teasing note in his voice.

"Ooh, sassy are we?" The Doctor said with a grin. "Time Lord I may be, but we don't know everything. Very scientific minded, don't have much time for mystic stuff, well, until I met Atem that is, well, and Kia."

"Who's Kia?" Hao asked.

"Wolf girl from your universe, called the Ageless, I think." The Doctor replied. "Shopkeeper, but knows a lot about magic…" He trailed off and then smacked himself in the forehead. "Of course, why didn't I think of that?" He said. "Kia, or the other supernaturals out there, they've got magic, why not ask them?"

"You think that would work?" Hao asked.

"Doesn't hurt to try." Asaha said. "Think we'll have to go all the way to Domino?"

"She might not even be there anymore." Lupe said, popping up behind Asaha and making him jump. "Lupe, please don't give me a heart attack, I only have one, you know."

"Noted." Lupe said cheerily. "I think Torchwood: Alternate Cardiff should have some records on supernaturals, we might not have to go to Kia specifically."

"Well, come on then, let's not waste a moment." The Doctor said, bouncing in place.

"We should get Yoh and Lyserg first." Asaha reminded him.

"Right, pick up our other guests, then off we go." The Doctor said. They did so, explaining that they might have a lead on getting the spell off.

"I don't think you should be taking it off him." Asaha carefully ignored the muttered comment from Lyserg and saw Hao roll his eyes, which he could see was just a show. He gave Hao a questioning look and the other simply shrugged, as though to say there was nothing any of them could do about it.

"Hello Don, hello Rose!" The Doctor called when they emerged. "Ah Don, did you ever get that problem sorted out?" Don nodded and the two of them launched into a discussion about some sort of physics that Asaha could not follow. He could see their guests staring.

"Don't ask me, I never know what they're talking about." Asaha shrugged.

"None of us do." Rose said, shaking her head with a fond smile on her face. "What do you need?"

"Do you have anything in the databanks about supernaturals?" Asaha asked.

"I think we do, not much, more just rumour and hearsay." Rose answered. "But I think I understand what you're looking for, I'll see if there's anything about getting in contact with them. If that fails, internet. You'd be surprised how much good information some of those conspiracy sites have."

"Like in Men in Black." Yoh said.

"Exactly." Rose said with a smile. She sat down at one of the computers and began typing. "Hm, looks like we're in luck, though it's pretty vague. Says here that there's shops in every city, town, village, anywhere there's people there's one of the shops. Says though that only people who are in need of the shop's services will find the shop. Wonder how that works."

"Magic of some kind I would assume." The Doctor said, coming over. "Well, if there's one in every city there will be at least one in Cardiff, want to have a wander around? Stroll through the streets."

"All of us, wouldn't be much use for only one to go out and have to come back to get the others." Yoh said. Asaha watched Hao go pale at the thought of going outside.

"Would it make you feel better if I came along?" He asked quietly. Hao looked at him, eyes narrowed.

"I'd rather not go out at all." He replied, a little louder than Hao. The Doctor and Lupe looked at him and then began whispering together.

"We're coming along, and I think, no, I know, we can create a sort of psychic barrier with me and Lupe's, maybe Asaha too, our minds to shield you." The Doctor said.

"Why me?" Asaha asked.

"You're human and also a complete match for him, he'll find it easiest to latch onto you, you just don't have the control or the power to do what we're looking to do alone." The Doctor said. "We'd be in control the entire time, you wouldn't have to do a thing." He assured Asaha.

"I trust you." Asaha said. "The question is do you trust them?" He asked Hao.

"I don't trust them, but I trust you." Hao said. "It's enough."

"What are you talking about?" Lyserg demanded.

"I'm talking about precautions so I don't go insane being dumped in the middle of a city and mind open to all the other minds in the area." Hao said irritably. "Forgive me if the idea doesn't exactly thrill me."

"Alright, Asaha, come here, I'm going to establish a connection from me and Lupe to you, and then from you to Hao." Asaha went forward and the Doctor put a hand on his temple, closing his eyes and concentrating. He felt the Doctor sort of reinforce the wall he had around his mind and expand it so that it felt like the wall was now outside of his body as well. He could feel the Doctor in the increase in power, but also Lupe through him. "Hao, come here." Hao warily moved forward and let the Doctor place his other hand on his head. The connection was easily made, and though Hao couldn't read Hao, he could feel the other's presence, almost like a scent over his mind.

"How does that feel?" Lupe asked.

"Like I've got a blanket around me, muffling me. It kind of vibrates."

"Doesn't hurt, not too distracting?" The Doctor asked. Hao shook his head. "Concentrate on Asaha, it will be easier to keep the connection, you two," The Doctor gestured at Yoh and Lyserg. "You two need to be the ones keeping an eye out, look for anything unusual, any shop that looks out of place." Yoh and Lyserg nodded and they teleported out into the street and started walking.

"Feels like there's buzzing in my head." Asaha muttered.

"I can't hear anyone, so I can deal with buzzing." Hao said. "Feel slightly exposed without it though, used to be able to tell when an attack was coming."

Suddenly Lupe let out a sound that was half yell, half howl. "GET DOWN!" Asaha felt Lupe shove him in the back and then the Doctor let out a sound of anguish, emotion spiking through the link they had. Asaha turned and quickly grabbed Lupe, and the six of them darted into the nearest alley, running until they ran out of breath.

"What the hell?" Asaha gasped, lifting Lupe up.

"X-Laws, Marco was trying to get you or me." Hao said. "Lupe got in the way." Asaha looked down at Lupe then and saw the blood everywhere.

"Oh gods, Lupe." Asaha moaned.

"We need to get her back to the Hub." Yoh said. "She needs a doctor."

"Teleport might interrupt the process." The Doctor murmured.

"Put me down, Asaha." Lupe said. Asaha swallowed and did so, Lupe staggered, but stood tall. "They won't be off our trail for long, and this isn't going to help any." She said, looking down at her hands. Asaha felt a tear slide down his cheek. Lupe smiled at him. "Now you know this isn't the end." She said.

"Yes, but it's not going to be you, not like this anymore." Asaha answered.

"I know." Lupe said. She took Asaha's face in her hands. "I want you to know that you are the best, though. One of my best friends, and even if I don't want to cuddle anymore, I'll always be your cuddle monster, one way or another." She hugged him, and Asaha hugged back, unmindful of the blood that was probably soaking them both. "Doctor."

"Didn't expect it to happen so soon, but then again you are very protective." The Doctor said. "Thank you, for saving me."

"I think we saved each other." Lupe replied, smiling slightly. "Does it hurt?" The Doctor shook his head and then hugged her close. Asaha could see that her hands were starting to glow. "It's starting now." She said, voice a mixture of terrified and excited. "Goodbye everyone."

"Wait, I don't understand." Lyserg yelped. Lupe was starting to glow all over now.

"Just stay back." The Doctor said. "Goodbye Lupe, it's been brilliant."

"Goodbye Doctor, and, hello." Lupe's arms flung out as golden light erupted from her, hiding her from view.

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Star: Review plz!


	14. Chapter 14

Star: I own nothing!

The bright light subsided and Asaha watched as Lupe shook herself out. "Oh, that is not fair." The Doctor groused, looking at Lupe. Lupe gave him a confused look and then caught a strand of hair in her fingers. It was long, curly and bright red. She grinned at the Doctor.

"Been trying to get ginger for nine regenerations and here I get it on the first try, ha!" Lupe tilted her head and scrunched up her face. "Ooh, sassy. I like it."

"I'm sorry, but what just happened?" Hao asked, staring at Lupe, who was now curvy enough to be straining the buttons on her vest.

"Regeneration, Time Lord trick. We're dying, we regenerate, change basically everything about ourselves and we get to keep going." The Doctor explained. "New body, new personality."

"Which is why she said goodbye." Hao guessed. Lupe was busy running through the mess of red hair around her head.

"Oof, I think I may rival Merida for hair." She muttered. Her voice was lower, and had a husky quality to it along with a mild northern accent. Her eyes were a grey-green and her face was rounder, with a longer nose and freckles across her nose and cheeks. "Well, let's not all stand here like morons, we've got people after us and a shop to find."

"Shouldn't we go back and lie low for a while?" Lyserg asked.

"Och, we never back down, and besides, they know we're here already, they won't stop for nothing now." Lupe replied. "In fact I think-"

"Found you!" Marco said, his gun trained on them.

"How did they find us so quickly anyways?" Hao muttered, putting his hands up.

"Don't bother with your teleport." The Iron Maiden said. "It won't work." The Doctor and Lupe both raised an eyebrow.

"How would you have that kind of technology?" The Doctor asked.

"No kidding, it's not like he's clever enough to figure it out himself." Lupe added. "Ooh, very sassy, don't take things too seriously, it looks like."

"What are you babbling about? Who are you?" Marco demanded.

"I'm the girl you shot." Lupe said cheerfully. "You killed me, except I have a reset button so you failed at that!" She finished in a sing-song voice. "You shoot me again I'll just pop right back up too, so I wouldn't bother, but how the hell did you find us so quickly?"

"We have an ally." The Iron Maiden said proudly. "We helped repair him."

"Repair him?" The Doctor said, sounding wary. "Who is this ally, trot him out, go on!" Suddenly something that looked vaguely like a pepper shaker with a plunger and a gun and a single eyestalk materialized.

"HE-LLO DOC-TOR." The thing said in a metallic, high-pitched voice.

"Oh you idiots, stupid human beings!" The Doctor yelled. "That is a Dalek, they are no one's allies. So what, you managed to hide out in this universe, injured and alone, and saw a chance to get fixed when these two came along, eh?"

"THEY WERE USEFUL." The Dalek said. "BUT THEY WILL BE EXTERMINATED WHEN THE DALEKS RETURN." The Doctor laughed, a jagged, merciless sound.

"They aren't coming back, no more Daleks, not in this universe or the other." He said viciously. "You idiots." He snarled at the X-Laws. "Daleks seek to destroy every other species in the universe, they will not spare you, it used you, because you were convenient."

"He lies."

"I am the Doctor, and the Daleks are the scum of the universe." The Doctor said. "And now you've let one loose on Earth." Asaha put his hand up to his ear, intending to call for help. Marco saw it and fired. Asaha was shoved out of the way and Hao took the bullet for him, right through his stomach.

Asaha felt the agony of it, and actually felt the block on Hao's power leave him. A wall of fire came down, engulfing the X-Laws and the Dalek, leaving only ash behind. Completely spent Hao collapsed, Yoh catching him as he fell.

"Well, that was anticlimactic." Lupe said, sounding disappointed. "We need to get back to Torchwood now." The Doctor nodded and teleported them all back to Torchwood. "MARTHA!" Lupe yelled.

"Don't… don't bother…" Hao whispered. Yoh eased Hao to the ground, settling him so that his head was in his lap.

"Don't say that." He said. "Why would you say that?"

"Dying anyways… even with help…" Hao answered painfully.

"Why'd you do that?" Yoh asked.

"Wanted it to mean something." Hao said. "You…understand." He directed this comment at Asaha. Asaha nodded his head. "Couldn't…" his face screwed up in pain and he gasped for air.

"We would have worked something out, you didn't have to-"

"Asaha… more people… more to live for…" Hao gasped out. "Maybe… in time… but…" He swallowed, a trickle of blood falling from the corner of his mouth down his chin. "Tired… no more running…" He closed his eyes and then opened them again. "Please… tired.." Yoh nodded his head, tears sliding down his cheeks.

"I wish…" He sobbed out.

"Me… too…" Hao said. "Maybe… next time…" Yoh laughed weakly.

"I'll hold you to that." He said. He leaned down and kissed Hao on the forehead. "I love you. I know you think I shouldn't, but I do."

"Love you…" Hao's voice was barely above a whisper now. Yoh kissed his forehead again and Hao let out a low, barely audible sigh of contentment. When Yoh lifted his head Hao's eyes were empty. Yoh gently closed them and let out a rough sob. The Doctor took off his long tan overcoat and laid it over Hao's body. Asaha crouched down next to Yoh and put a hand on his back.

"He did it to save you, why would he..?" Yoh asked.

"Because he thought that I had more to live for than him, because he didn't to see anyone else hurt because of him, because he wanted it to mean something this time around." Asaha answered. "Take your pick."

"He was good." Yoh said. "In the end he was good."

"Almost everyone has good inside them." The Doctor said gently. "Sometimes that gets lost though, and they have to be reminded of it."

"He got what he wanted in the end, I think." Lupe added. "Peace."

"Yeah, but it still hurts." The Doctor gently ruffled his hair, his smile sorrowful.

"It will always hurt." He said. "But it hurts because he mattered to you and that's the good bit I suppose."

"You'll see him again." Lupe added. "Less than a hundred years, not that long in the grand scheme of things, a lot less time than we'll have to wait. Oh, that's bitter, isn't it?"

Yoh managed to chuckle at Lupe's indignant expression. "There now, find something to smile about." Asaha encouraged. "I don't think he'd want you to be sad over this."

"Probably not, but he was always very blasé about death." Yoh replied, pulling the Doctor's coat over Hao's face. "We should bury him, or cremate him, something."

"A ceremony?" Lupe asked. "I'm sure there's some people here who would come and pay their respects."

"I think it would make him happy to see people cared." Yoh admitted, wiping the tears from his face.

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Star: Review plz!


	15. Chapter 15

Star: I own nothing!

Yoh watched as Martha sewed up the wound in Hao's body. "I don't know why you're bothering." He said dully.

"Proper procedure." Martha answered. "Besides, want to be looking at an open wound during a wake? It'd start to smell. He's not… hanging around, is he?" The petite woman asked.

"No, he wouldn't stay." Yoh said. "He had no reason to. Can anyone around here see ghosts?"

"Don can, Jack can, but that's no surprise, Atem and Yugi, but they had magic of their own at one point, and Rose, I suppose that has to do with having the time vortex in her head at one point." Martha explained.

"I'm still not exactly sure I understand what happened to Lupe." Yoh said. The wolf-girl had disappeared into their spaceship and apparently was taking a long nap.

"It's not really easy to explain, it's just, they change, reset their bodies I guess you could say." Martha said. "I've never seen it myself, but Rose did. The Doctor was a lot different when he first met her, that's what she said, took her awhile to get used to the new one."

"What, like he didn't see her the same way?" Yoh asked.

"I'm sure he did, but it was different ways of showing it. He had a whole new way of doing things, and she was used to other ways, had things she'd found cute and sweet, and now that was all gone and a man with a new face was staring at her. Suppose for him it's not so big of a deal that Lupe's regenerated, but it doesn't look like she's going to be acting like a puppy anymore, so in a way we have to mourn her still." Jack said from the doorway. "So what were you thinking, burial or cremation? We can keep the body here, we have our own little mausoleum, have a few friends kept there."

"No, he liked fire, I think he would find it fitting to be cremated." Yoh said. "He'd probably want it to be showy too." His voice cracked at the end and he buried his face in his hands. "I'm sorry."

"You're allowed to feel upset." Martha said gently.

"I barely knew him, and he just barely liked me at the end." Yoh said.

"He was still your brother." Martha replied. "You're a very sensitive young man, it doesn't surprise me."

"I wish I wasn't." Yoh said, rubbing at his face. "It hurts too much."

"It hurts because it mattered." Jack stated. "Don't ever wish for people to not matter."

"I would never." Yoh whispered. "He'd hate to see me crying over him." He said with a watery chuckle. "We should do it soon."

"We don't need to find that Kia anymore." Jack commented, tapping his neck. Yoh blinked and then realized that he had his power back. "Must have ended when the X-Laws died."

"That's a bit of a relief at least." Yoh sighed. "When can we…?"

"How about sunset? There's a cliff outside Cardiff, Pete's home is on it in the other world and it has a fantastic view of the sea." Jack suggested.

"I think he'd like that." Yoh agreed. It didn't take long for a preparations to be made and soon Yoh found himself on a cliff surrounded by the people of Torchwood. He was surprised that Lyserg had agreed to come, and now the green-haired boy was standing some distance away, watching the proceedings. Hao had been laid on a tall pile of driftwood, a pyre for burning.

Atem stood up and lifted his hands for silence. "Today we honour someone that we were learning to call friend. We honour a life given to save another. Today we lay the body of Hao Asakura to rest, in the knowledge that his soul has already found his rest." Atem finished. Jack stepped up as Atem stepped back.

"He was a bit of a tosser when we first got him." A ripple of laughter met his words. "But he'd gotten better by the end. Only wish he'd stuck around long enough for me to get him drunk." Another, bigger ripple of laughter accompanied that. "Rest in peace, you've earned it."

"I suppose I was the one who understood him the most." Asaha said, standing up. "he hated and craved that at the same time. I wanted to hate him too, but I could only feel sorry for him. I'm glad that he found what he was looking for in the end, even if he only had it for a short time. If it were me I'd be going to see my mother, and I hope that's what he's done. Good luck, Hao." Asaha gestured to Yoh and then took his place next to his own brother.

"I don't really know what to say except I wish I'd had more time, and that we could have done more together." Yoh said, fighting back tears again. "I wish we could have been real brothers together, but you're probably happier like this, you've been going for so long that the rest must feel like heaven to you now. I love you brother, and I'll see you again some day, you can count on that."

Fire was put to the wood and Yoh watched as Hao's body burned into ash that was carried on the wind. The sky had turned a fiery red, which Yoh found fitting for Hao. "Farewell brother, until we meet again." He whispered.

He turned away and noticed Lupe and the Doctor standing, looking out onto the sea. Lupe had discarded her old clothes in favour of a loose black leather jacket and a pair of jeans. He could see some of the others casting glances at her, looking sad. He still didn't completely understand, but he supposed he never would.

"Think it's time to be getting you two back home?" Jack asked. Yoh and Lyserg nodded their heads. "Where to?"

Within no time at all Yoh and Lyserg found themselves in front of the En Inn in Tokyo. "You ever need anything, want a job, want a place to stay, just give us a ring. If you're around Cardiff, come on around."

"Thanks," Yoh said, taking the card from Jack. "Think I've had enough weirdness to last me a lifetime."

"You say that now." Jack said with a wink. Yoh smiled at him. He felt like he'd aged years in the scant small time he'd spent in Torchwood. Jack saluted him and then disappeared. Yoh and Lyserg looked at each other, sighed, and turned to go inside and face the music.

THE END

Star: So that's it for this instalment, I've got a couple more stories for this series in the works, so if you want to see them, vote on my poll!


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